Chief Justice Roberts saves Obamacare!

[loinburger]

Out of curiosity, are you also refusing to pay your Texas state taxes? Or are you pro death penalty?

[Ben Kenobi]

Out of curiosity, are you also refusing to pay your Texas state taxes? Or are you pro death penalty?

What state income taxes?

[DaShi]

Are you hard of seeing? He didn't write income tax.

[Ben Kenobi]

Tax evasion, though I suppose you might just go to prison instead

How many people has Obama deported for tax evasion? Seriously, it's a requirement to be a part of his administration.

[Ben Kenobi]

Are you hard of seeing? He didn't write income tax.

What state taxes am I coerced to pay?

[DaShi]

Let's see, what other taxes does Texas have?

[loinburger]

I suppose you're not coerced into paying any taxes so long as you don't buy anything. Do you drive across the border to make all of your purchases in order to avoid paying sales tax? Do you have an "I'm opposed to the death penalty" exemption for sales tax?

[giblets]

He's homeless too, so the property tax doesn't affect him.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm curious why it isn't a tax for the purposes of the Anti-Injunction Act but suddenly becomes a tax for the purposes of judging its legality.

I believe the reasoning is that Anti-Injunction Act analysis is to get to the merits of the case. So on first glance, since the Administration and Congress don't call it a tax, it doesn't fall under it. But when you get to the merits, you realize that regardless of what they call it, it's basically a tax. At least that's how I see Roberts' ruling making the distinction.

Though, of course, it obviously was calculated in that way.... if Roberts declared it a tax under AIA, that would make it a 4-4-1, with 5 votes for the Administration. There would be another challenge when the tax was levied for the first time, then they'd have to go through all of this again with Roberts writing the opinion he really wanted to write (the one under his discussion of the AIA - not sure how Ginsburg dealt with it as I haven't read her concurrence yet).

[Ben Kenobi]

I suppose you're not coerced into paying any taxes so long as you don't buy anything. Do you drive across the border to make all of your purchases in order to avoid paying sales tax? Do you have an "I'm opposed to the death penalty" exemption for sales tax?

There are exemptions to the sales tax. I don't have to spend a dime taxed by it unless I want to. That's liberty.

[giblets]

There are exemptions to the sales tax. I don't have to spend a dime taxed by it unless I want to. That's liberty.

That's true- food and medicine are exempt, so as long as you go without clothes, toilet paper, and soap, you won't pay a dime in taxes. That's liberty.

[Dr Strangelove]

I thought that Texas had a state income tax?

[Ben Kenobi]

That's true- food and medicine are exempt, so as long as you go without clothes, toilet paper, and soap, you won't pay a dime in taxes. That's liberty.

Let's see. Clothes - haven't bought any here and I have plenty.

Have a roommate. Roomate and I trade stuff around. I pay for food, he deals with the rest of it.

It's really not that hard to avoid paying sales tax.

[Ben Kenobi]

I thought that Texas had a state income tax?

Nope. One of nine that don't have any.

[loinburger]

Have a roommate. Roomate and I trade stuff around. I pay for food, he deals with the rest of it.

So it doesn't count as funding the death penalty when you're bartering with your roommate for items that help fund the death penalty? You're basically paying him to be your scapegoat.

"So, didn't the purchase of those razor blades help to fund the death penalty?"
"Nope, I bartered with my roommate for them - he's the one who's going to hell, not me."

Hell, why not barter for condoms while you're at it?